Therapeutical device



July 24, 1951 N. J. POUX THERAPEUTICAL DEVICE Filed Sept. 9, 1947 4 ail/I 0 f 4 INVENTOR. Mel JPOUM BY Q AT, RNEY,

Patented July 24, 1951 UNITED STATES, PATENT OFFICE i, 2,552,121THERAPEUTICAL v NoelJ. Poux, Meadville, Pat. H Application September 9,1947, Serial No. 173,025 I This invention relates or to ice and hotpacks as theyare more commonly called, for heating "parts of the humanbody or for withdrawing heat therefrom.

It is the general practice to employ a hot water bottle for applyingheat to parts of the body, or .an ice bag filled with'cracked ice'if itis desired to withdraw heat from the body. 'Such bottles or :bags arenot only inconvenient'and time consuming to fill and 'refill butalsothere'is danger Claims. (01. iso-az) totherapeutical devices,

"of leakage of the bottle or bag at the cap or plug.

Also, such bags or bottles are cumbersome and \are not shaped to.conform to the part of the body to be treated, which results 'in aninadequate supply of heat or cold to the part of the body being treated.Furthermore, these bags or bottles in most cases areplaced directly nextto the skin of the patient, oftentimes resulting in a severe burn.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an improvedtherapeutical device of an extremely flexible construction which can beused either as a hot'pack for supplying heat to the body, or as a coldheat therefrom. It is another object of the invention to provideanimproved therapeutical devicewhich is light and inexpensive in itsconstruction and which conforms to the part of the body being treated.It is a more specific object of this invention pack for withdrawing toprovide an improved therapeutical device consisting ofa plurality ofpermanently sealed liquidcontaining compartments or cells havingaircontaining compartments or cells arranged therewith'which are adaptedto act as a cushioning and/or. insulating mea'ns'for the liquid-contain-I ing-compartmentsor'cells.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedtherapeutical device havinga liquid permanently sealed therein in theformof a strap or;collar which maybe conmerits. which my invention mayassume in practice l I W n these drawingsz]. I g 1 r I r Fig.1 is aprofile view of a hu man being, showg how p v d th p utical device isadap a e. 9 1 5? 2 Fig. 2 is a plan view of my improved device; Fig. 3is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig.2;

' Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig.5 is an enlarged sectional View taken on line 5-5 of Fi 2; I

' Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to Fig. 5, showing amodified form of the device of myinventiomJ I Fig. 7 is across-sectional view ing to Fig. 5 of still another modification ofpresent invention; and Fig; 8 is a plan view of another form of strap inaccordance with my invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the improved device of myinvention consistsof an elongated body member made from. a flexibleimpervious 'relatively'thin material, such as rub: her, but madepreferably from one of the synthetic plastic materials, such as vinyl,polyvinyl, polyethylene, nylon, acetate, either in sheet or film stock.:On one side of the body member, there is provided a plurality ofcompartmentsor cells 2 with each being permanently sealed and containinga suitable liquid, preferably water, On the oppositeside of the bodymember, there is provided a' plurality. of permanently sealedcompartments or'cells 3 with each containing a suitable amount of air,with {the number of such also correspondthe air compartmentscorresponding. tothe numberv of liquid-contaning compartments 2. Inother words, the air-containing compartments 3 and liquid-containingcompartments 2 are superimposed relativeto each other with onepositioned directly opposite the other, as clearly shown-in Figs. 3 and5 of the drawings.

These compartments are formed preferably by positioning three strips ofmaterial 5, 6, and] on top of each other and securing them together atspaced-apart intervals so as to provide rela-. tively wide and thinportions 8 between each of the compartments?! and-'3, whereby the bodymember is permitted to; hinge freely at these portions. The strips maybe .secured. together by vulcanizing, if rubber,. or by any suitableadhesive, but are. preferably secured together by means of heat orelectronic sealing, especially if the material is characteristic of suchsealing. By such sealing together of the strips, it will be seen thatcompartments 2 are formed between the outer strip 5 and the intermediatestrip 6, and that compartments 3 are formed between the other outerstrip land theintermediate strip ,6, They side edgesof the strip] arepreferably folded I around'underupon itself and the edges of thecontinuation of the intermediate strip 6 and may,

be secured together around the patient by tying, pinning, or in anyother suitable manner.

device is shaped substantially like a collar to fit In the presentinstance, it will be noted that the,

4 l compartments reaches the desired temperature.

In use, the device is applied to the patient preferably by placing thatside of the device on which the air-containing compartments are locatednext to the skin of the patient. It is the purpose of the aircompartments to provide a cushion betweent the patient and theliquid-containing compartments so as not to be uncomfortable to thepatient, especially if the liquid thereinis frozen solid. Also, theseair compartments provide an insulating effect in case it is desired notto withdraw too rapidly too much heat from the body so'as-rtoprevent thepatient from becoming subthe contour of the neck region: of aLpatien-t,but i it will be understood that the device may be any desired shape tofit that part of the body to be treated.

Fig, 6, there is shown a modifiedform-of 'my devii z'e. In thisconstruction, there isp'rovided, as before, a series of permanentlysea-led liquidoontaini iig compartments or' cclls H. with an .aircompartment or cell I3 disposed-on each side of each of tiiecompartments" rz'wsowthat e ch of these compartments is completely''surroundedby air compartment :or chamber." In sueh' ease, tiie' iiodymember is made preferably from'four strips of material I4, I5, l6,and'fl with the liquiomontaining compartments l2 disposed between thetwo intermediate strips 15' and Hi, and with the two outer aircoritainingi compartments" t3 disposed' betweenthe outer'strip 14' andthe interme liaterstrip' lfi on one side ofthe body eoiii aitment'swon'o'ne side thereof. The con- 1 struction is madepreferably from threestrips or material as is the preferred form with thestrip 2 1' beingpreferably straight and fiat sd as to proid Eiiflat' outer 'Sid'dlld'thstrips 22 811C123 3tt'acfid thereto at spaced-apart intervals, asbefore, so as to provide relatively wide and fla-t' portions between theeompartments.

, "IiiFigQS, there is shown a sIight'mQdified form of strap of myinvention. In this construction,

thereisprovided a plurality of liquid-containing compartments 2 4 and,if desired, a corresponding number of" superimposedair-eoiitaining-compartments (not shown) directly opposite the liquid-Eoi taming com artments si'miiar to the" preferred form, At one end ofthe body member, there is de'd a's'trap 2 5' and at the other end, thereV "vided a air'of loops orslots 26 through it iehtiie strap 25 isthreaded so as to secure t lie' device to the patient."

If 'the" device of my invention is to be used as acold pack, it" isplaced a deep freeze unit or other-refrigerating device so as to freezethe iifqui'd' iiifthe individual compartments. If the to be used'as "ahot pack, itis submerged g 'water'or 'placediri a steam'unit or othersuitable iieatiiig device until the liquid in the ject to a chill. As aresult of my invention, it will be seen thatT there is provided not onlya simple and inexpensive device which can be conveniently used either asa cold or hot pack, but, at the same time, a device which is'i efficientand efiective in its-use; It "will beseen also-that my device is shapedto conform .to the part "of the "body to be treated and has a cushioningmeans incorporated therewith so as to' make the patient asv comfortable-as possible. I 1 a While I have showrr and described several embodiments which myfinvention may assume-tin practice, it willbeunderstood-that these'enibbdi ments are merely-for the purpose ofillustration and description, and that; othef forms imay' bodevisedwithin the scope of my invention 'as rdefl'ned in the appended claims!"i 1 What I claim asm'yinventionEis: An article of the classdescribed-compris ing an elongated-body member made' of relatively thinand flexible'm'aterial, at' least one perman'entlysealed a-ircontaining' compartment tarranged onione side of said body member,a'pl'ixrality of permanently sealed and independent liquid c'ontainingcompartments arranged on the opposite side of said body member so 'as'ito" be disposed in-=superimposed lationr to said i'filfit mentionedcompartment- 1 2.-Anarticle ofFthe class described, asdefined in claim1, wherein the pluralityefaliquid-con taining compartments areseparatedi from each other by substantially flat and- "relatively divideportions extending in'a plane substantially parallel tothe body memberhaving a thieknes's sub"- stantially less than the thickness of the bodymember at said compartmentsso as to provide a body memberwhich isextremely flexible; I 3. An article of the class described comprisinganelongated body member of 'relativelythi'n and flexible material, "aplurality" of permanently sealed and independent'air-containingcomps-rt; ments arranged on one'side: ofs'aid body'meinber,'a.plur'ality of permanently sealed and independent liquid-containingcompartments ar ranged on the opposite side'of said body rneinber so asto be disposed in superimposed relation't'o sa'idair-containingcompartments 4. An article of the'classdescribed comprising an elongated"body member made of"relatively thin and flexible material, aplllralityof -perma hently sealed and independent liquid-containing compartments,and at least one permanently sealed air-containing compartmentarrangedfto at least'one side of said liquid'-containing"com partments,said liquid and air containing coin; partments being in superimposedrelation 'rl f tive to each other whereby said air-contai compartment isadapted to set- 'a' cushion.

5. article of the class descr bed, as deflried in claim 4, wherein theplurality of liqlil' QQ'IIF taining compartments are separated fiOmeaQIi other by substantially flat and relatively wide portions extendingin a plane substantially parrallel to the body member having a thicknesssubstantially less than the thickness of the body member at saidcompartments so as to provide a body member which is extremely flexible.

6. An article of the class described comprising an elongated body membermade of relatively thin and flexible material, said body member beingshaped so as to conform to the part of the body of the patient to betreated, a plurality of permanently sealed and independentliquid-containing compartments arranged on one side of said body memberadapted to be disposed out of contact with the patient, anair-containing compartment arranged on that side of said body memberadapted to be disposed next to the patient so that saidliquid-containing and air-containing compartments are disposed insuperimposed relation relative to each other whereby said air-containingcompartment in one position is adapted to act as a cushion when thearticle is applied to the patient, and means for securing said bodymember to the patient.

7. An article of the class described, as defined in claim 6, wherein theplurality of liquid-containing compartments are separated from eachother by substantially flat and relatively wide portions extending in aplane substantially parallel to the body member having a thicknesssubstantially less than the thickness of the body member at saidcompartments so as to provide a body member which is extremely flexible.

8. An article of the class described comprisin a body member made ofthree thicknesses of relatively thin and flexible material, the threethicknesses being secured together at spaced intervals so as to providea series of permanently sealed and independent compartments on each sideof the intermediate thickness of material with said compartments on oneside being separated from the compartments on the other side by saidintermediate thickness of material, with the space between saidcompartments being relatively thin, flat, and'wide so that the device isextremely flexible, said compartments on one side of said intermediatethickness of material containing air and those on the opposite side aliquid.

9. An article of the class described comprising an elongated body membermade of relatively thin and flexible material, a plurality ofpermanently sealed and independent liquid-containing compartmentscarried by said body member and arranged in side-by-side relation, andan aircontaining compartment surrounding at least a portion of each ofsaid first mentioned compartments On one side of said body member, saidlast mentioned compartments adapted to act as a cushion for said bodymember when the article is applied to the patient.

10. An article of the class described, as defined in claim 9, whereinthe plurality of liquid-containing compartments are separated from eachother by substantially flat and relatively wide portions extending in aplane substantially parallel to the body member having a thicknesssubstantially less than the thickness of the body member at saidcompartments so as to provide a body member which is extremely flexible.

NOEL J. POUX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 699,778 Upham May 13, 19021,238,901 Ferguson Sept. 4, 1917 1,964,655 Williamson June 26, 19342,011,832 Slater Aug. 20, 1935 2,387,258 I-Iague Oct. 23, 1945

